Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-07-10

to me that You Will never breathe q worn
to Bessie. / will not have her happiness
destroyed. We have sinned, we mnst
sufer: not Bessie, who is innocent and
only takes her right | promised my dear
mother to look after Bessie and protect her,
and / will not be the one to betray her
never, nevsri You must marry her and L
must 90 away. There is 40 other way out
oft"
John looked at her, not knowing what
TO say or do. A sharp pang of despair
went through him as he watched the pas
sionste, pale face, aud the great eyes dim
with tears How was he to part from her?
He put out his arms to take her in them,
but she pushed him away almost fercely.
Have you no honor" she cried. us
it not all hard enough to bear without
your tempting me? / tell you IL Is all
done with. Finish saddling that horse
and let US start. The sooner we get Oh
the sooner it will be over, unless the Beers
catch us again and shoot u, which for my
own part / devoutly hope they may. You
must make up your mind TO remember
that / am nothing but your sister in law.
If you will not remember it then l shall
ride away aud leave you to 60 your way
and / will 20 mine"
John said no more. Her determination
was as crushing as the cruel necessity that
dictated it. What was more, his " rea-
son and sense of honor approved OF it, what
ever his passion might prompt tO the con-
trary. As he turned, YEARLY to finish sad
ding the horse he regretted with jess that
they had not both been drowned and gOtlt
over. :
OF eouIse the only saddles that they had
were these belonging to the dead Beers,
which was very awkward for a lady.
Luckily for herself, however, jess could,
from constant practice, ride almost as well
as though she had been trained to the ring,
and was even capable or balancing herself
without a pommel on a mans saddle,
having often and often ridden around the
farm in that way. So Don as the horses
were ready she astonishedJoAn by Chamber
ing into the saddle Of the older and steadier
animal, placing her foot in the stirrup
strap and announcing that she was ready
TO start. ..
"You had better ride some other way, +"
said John. at isn't usual, / know, but
you will tumble Off" -.
"You shall see" she said, with a little
laugh, putting the horse into a canter as
she spoke. John followed on the other
horse, and noted with amazement that she
sat as straight and steady on her slippery
seat as though she were on q hunting sad
die, keeping herself from falling by an in
stinctive balancing of the body which was
very curious to notice. When they got
well on to the plain they halted to con-
slider their route, and as they did so
Jess pointed to the long line OF vul-
lures descending to feast on their would
be murderers. If they went down the
river it would lead them to StandertOn,
aud there they would be safe ifthey could
get into the town, which was garrisoned
by English. But then, as they gathered
from the conversation Of their escort,
Standerton was closely invested by the
Beers, and to try and pass through their
lines was more than they dared to do. 1t
was true that they still had the pass
signed by the Boer general, but after what
had occurred they were not ~unnaturally
somewhat skeptical about the value Of
passes, and certainly unwilling to
put their efficacy to the proof.
So, after due consideration they de-
termined TO avoid Standerton and ride
in the opposite direction till they found
a practical ford of the Vaal. Fortunately,
they both of them had a very fair idea of
the lay of the land; and, in addition TO
this, John possessed n small scompass tas-
tened to his watch chain, which would
enable him to steer a pretty correct course
across the veldt-a fact that would render
them independent of the roads. On the
roads they would run a mOmentary risk,
if not o certainty of detection. But Oh the
wide veldt the chances were that they
would meet no living creature except the
wild game. Should they come across
houses they would be able to avoid them,
and their male inhabitants would probably
be far away from home on business con-
nected with the wal.
Accordingly they rode ten miles or more
along the bank without seeing a soul, when
they reached a space of bubbling, shallow
water that looked fordable. Indeed, an
investigation OF the banks revealed the
TACT that q loaded wagon had passed the
river at no distant date, perhaps a week
before.
THAT is good enough" said John; I'VE
will try it," And without further ado
they plunged in.
In the center of the stream the water
was strong and deep, and for a few rods
took the horses off their legs, but they
struck ont boldly till they got their footing
again; and after that there was no more
trouble. On the farther side of the river
John took counsel with his COM
pass and steered q course straight
for Mooifontein. At midday they
offsaddled the horses for an hour by some
water, and ate q small portion of their re-
naming food. Then they u~psaddled and
went on across the lonely. desolate veldt.
No human being did they see all that long
day. The wide country was only tenanted
by great herds of laundering game that
came rushing past like ~squadrons of caval-
~, or here and there by ~coteries of vul-
lures, Kissing and fighting ~furiously over
some dead buck. And so at last twilight
came on and found them alone in the will
derness
"Well what is to be done now?" said
John, pulilng 10 MS treh morse. III Will
be dark in half an hour"
jess slid from her saddle and she aH-
swered, "Get of and go to sleep, | sup
pose"
She was quite right; there was absolute
ly nothing else that they could do; so John
set TO work and hobbled the horses, tying
them together for further security, for it
would be a dreadful thing if they were to
stray. By the time that this was done the
twilight was gathering into night and the
two sat down to contemplate their sur
roundings with feelings akin 10 despair.
So far as the eye could reach there was
nothing TO be seen but a vast stretch Of
dreary plain, across which the night wind
blew in dreary gusts, making the green
grass ripple like the sea. There was also
lutely no shelter to be had. nor anything
to break the monotony, unless it we're a
couple of ant heaps about FIVE PAGES apart.
John sat down on one of the ant heaps and
jess took up her position on the other,
and there they remained, like pelicans in
the wilderness, watching the daylight fade
ont of the day.